There are multiple languages taught at Vernon Hills High School, including French, German, and Spanish. But there are many others spoken by students. To celebrate these many languages, VHHS hosts a yearly World Language Week that includes a poster competition, a trivia contest and a fair where AP students get to showcase their passion projects.

Many students and staff attended this year’s World Language Showcase. Stella Yang (9) loved the student’s presentations and all of the languages represented in the fair.

“I like learning about the different cultures and the interactions between people,” Yang said.

Another freshman who enjoyed World Language Week is Mayah Katta (9). Katta said some of her favorite parts of World Language Week were the performance by the Sura Bhien ensemble and the World Language showcase. Some students in the showcase also mentioned that they liked the opportunity to look at other students’ projects. Haley Clegg (12) said that she liked getting to see presentations from AP Spanish and AP German students, even though she is in French IV Dual Credit.

“[AP Language students] are very separate. We’re never together. So, I like seeing all the projects from them and all their different cultures,” Clegg said.

Students brainstormed their presentation topics in different ways. Clegg’s presentation was about Tahitian tattoos. The tattoos are symbolic and have a long history in French Polynesia.

“[The tattoos] mean beauty and power, and there’s all these different kinds of symbols, so it’s a really cool tradition,” Clegg said.

Eunice Choi (10) enjoyed seeing presentations from other language students and learning about those cultures.

“You know, you can see the culture really clearly [through the presentations], like German, Spanish and French, and you can learn more about it. I think that’s really fascinating,” Choi said.

Choi’s presentation was about the French impressionist artist Claude Monet. Choi said her group was inspired to do the presentation after a field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago.

“We were actually really impressed by Monet because his paintings are really famous. We went to the Art Institute of Chicago for a field trip and his paintings were the most outstanding,” Choi said.

A lot of the projects were interactive, which allowed students visiting the fair to do an activity. Some of these projects included salsa dancing, a Guillotine re-enactment, and a presentation about ice fishing in Quebec.

Another interactive presentation at the fair was about Mardi Gras, created by Veronica Ramirez (12) and Olivia Lehocky (12). The presentation included a parade float made out of cardboard and masks that students could design and decorate.

“I have always wanted to go to the Mardi Gras parade, because it’s a big thing. Some people I know will go to New Orleans or St. Louis… and it’s French, so we wanted to learn more about it,” Lehocky said.